On the Whalers, (I'll switch back my avatar if I must).
Team was forced on the NHL in the merger as it was the strongest franchise. Boston (where've we heard that) didn't want them.
Team underperformed on the ice and in the front office (thanks EJ), but sold most of it's tickets in what became an undersized building. Attendence was not the issue.
There was little to no ancillary revenue from the skyboxes (too few and too few sold), concessions or parking. That was a major problem.
The other major problem was a horrible TV deal. All rights were local back then and the Whalers didn't get much from.theirs.
So, after EJ gutted the team, and they missed with Pronger, Zalapski, Cullen, Coffey, and Shanahan, the team was weak in the standings and on balance sheet. When the NHL started looking south and west, along comes an industry insider, Cap'n Ponytail, to convince Bettman to allow him to buy and move the team.
A new arena was batted around, but he was determined to move.
With the current revenue sharing and salary cap, a Hartford hockey team would do just fine with a new arena. It has about 10-15 years before you'd have to rebuild the fanbase from scratch.
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